Archangel
by Fay K. Naime
Summary: Cybernetics, AxI, and a new gun. Sequel to Turnabout. What can modern technolgy do for Hellsing? How will Alucard react to a mind rape?
1. There Are Places

Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing or RAND. I make no money from this, ergo, if you try to sue, I will rip out your throat.

C4ISR – Acronym for Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. Details the different factors of warfare information/command concepts and models.

* * *

"You've outdone yourself, Walter," commented the grave but pleased voice of Sir Integra Wingates Hellsing. Sitting on the desk of her study was a large wooden box, it's lid thrown backwards. Integra gently brushed her fingertips over the large weapon inside. "It can't really be classified as a sub-machine gun, can it?" 

"Not really, Sir, no. The Archangel is a combination weapon, which has the 20mm semi-automatic, magazine fed grenade launcher as its primary part, and the 5.56mm compact assault rifle as its secondary part. Both parts are assembled into the single one-man portable unit, with the addition of the target acquisition / fire control system."

"And the integration problems?"

"Dr. Ravindra's team solved them, Sir. The pesky problem of the neural connections still exists, however."

"Pesky? That's certainly one way to describe it. Wasn't the R&D division discussing bolting an electrode-relay skull plate onto my head as one potential solution?"

Walter colored slightly, remembering his own part in the attempt to persuade Integra of the soundness of _that _option. _Sir Integra, I do believe a metallic skullcap would look positively dashing. _ "Ahem. The Archangel will function as the center point of the planned HellNet, capable of communicating with the other parts of this system, including the tactical computers and helmet-mounted displays. It can handle up to three DN – direct neural – feeds as well."

"Ammunition?"

"High Explosive and Mercury Airburst rounds for the 20mm unit and 5.56mm silver rounds for the assault rifle."

"Magazine?"

"30 rounds box for the 5.56mm Kinetic Energy and Mercury Ignition rounds, and a 6 round box for the High Explosive and Mercury Airburst rounds."

"This is not a gun, Walter, this is a one man army!"

Walter's face lit up. In an immensely pleased voice, he continued. "Gas operated rotating bolt mechanism, solid titanium barrel for the grenade launcher, 10in steel barrel for the assault rifle. 890mm overall length, 6.8kg weight when loaded. And of course, the attachments for the 6x scope, Video Camera, Laser Rangefinder and the neural feed system are mounted on the top."

"Perfection, Walter. When can I expect the complete system?"

"I'm not sure, Sir. The problem lies with the wetware, Sir Integra, not the hardware. We cannot launch HellNet until the neural feed systems are in place. Till then this gun is just an expensive toy."

"Even so, it is an impressive toy. Leave it, Walter, I'm going to give it a run in the training maze."

"Yes, Sir Integra."

_

* * *

Alucard. Where are you?_

_In the basement, Master._

_Come out to the maze for a few minutes. I want you to see something._

"Is that what Walter had been working on?"

"Yes. What do you think?" Integra took off the sling of the large rifle she was carrying, and handed it to Alucard.

"Certainly _looks _impressive." Alucard fitted the rifle in the crook of his arm, and almost nonchalantly, fired at a wall in the training maze. A series of neat holes appeared, accompanied by the rather deafening noise of a machine gun. "You don't go for simple, so you, Master?"

"All my weapons are complex, Alucard, in their own way." Integra smirked at the vampire standing besides her.

"And what do you have here?"

"The grenade launcher? It is mounted on the rifle like _so._" Integra demonstrated. "Currently loaded with Mercury Airburst rounds."

"Impressive. In your hands, this weapon will be as the wrath of God, wholesale. What did Walter name it?"

"The Archangel."

"Fitting."

"It will be even more impressive when seen within the framework of HellNet."

"Is that the great C4ISR war-theatre system you were speaking of last week? You named it Hellnet?"

"HellNet." The extra capital letter carried clearly in Integra's tone. "The Hellsing Network. Every solider, every officer, every operative in Command Center will be linked, at all times, their individual inputs – infrared sensors, human sight, sound – matched against individual movements and initiatives. There will be no break – if something goes wrong, we will know of it, instantly. If something attacks one member, all will know of it, and instantly receive orders on how to deal with the threat."

"Sounds like your salvation, Master."

"Explain yourself, Alucard." Integra's voice carried all the chill of an unforgiving winter.

"You damn yourself to Hell every time a solider dies under your command. How many nights have I found you, Master, standing at the window, searing the names of the fallen into your memory?" _I know your depths, my Master._

_And I know how low you would go for leverage._

_Leverage? Is that what you think this is about?_

_This? You mean our constant battle, Alucard, or the gun?_

_Constant battle? Wonderful. This is the first time you have referred to it so openly. But the battle is not between you and me – I surrendered long ago. You fight nothing but yourself._

_Alucard!_

_Good evening, Master. Enjoy your new toy._

* * *

"Sir, I would recommend against going with this private firm. I do not trust a corporate laboratory to look after your health with the same dedication as your Hellsing R&D staff." 

"And I do not trust our scientists to perform cybernetic surgery on me. They specialize in Vampires, remember?"

"I just don't trust these peoples' methods."

"Even when they solved our 'pesky' problem?"

"With all due respect, Sir, they've 'solved' the problem with Mumbo-jumbo science iterated by some twenty year old fresh out of college. I was deeply involved in the development of HellNet, as you know, and all this talk of softlinks and experimental brainwave carriers makes me worried. Hardlinks are best – tried and trusted."

"Not when a hardlink involves replacing my skull with a metallic plate."

"Sir."

* * *

"Testing Link Alpha. Please repeat this sequence over the net, Integra." The white-gowned scientist persisted in using Integra's first name, an annoyance that Integra had failed to suppress. Methodically, she repeated the sequence of letters, numbers and small images inside her mind, careful to direct the thoughts towards the area of inky blackness nestled to the left of her brain. 

In a room three floors above, two vampires sat at a table, closely supervised by another team of researchers. In a few minutes, the researcher looked up from the sheet one of the vampires was writing on, and spoke into a mike clipped to his lab coat. "Link Alpha up and running."

Well and good, Master, but I still feel this is unnecessary. You and I communicate just fine.

_We do not communicate, Alucard. You talk, and I respond. This will allow me as much access to you as you have to me. _

_If I read the release forms correctly, not _quite _as much access._

_True. I do not have the ability to run rampant through your memories and thoughts, vampire, a fact for which I am grateful._

_Are you? I would think you would cherish an extra level of control over me._

_I do not liken mental rape to control, Alucard, but rather to a lack_ _of self-control._

"We're getting interference over the network, Integra."

"Sorry, doctor. Private conversation. You may continue."

"Please refrain from indulging in activity that interferes with the testing process."

"And I would request you to refrain from using that tone of voice with me." Integra's tone could have cut glass.

"I will use what tone I wish, if it guarantees your safety and the satisfactory operation of our product. You signed a release that covers all of this. Now please sit still – you still have one more static link to Ceres to work through, after which we have to test the variable feed."

"How long will that take?"

"We will be plugging in every piece of hardware you will be interacting with – this includes all the sensors of the Hellsing Network, its associated computers and the headpieces of your officers. About four hours."

"Go ahead."

* * *

…_to be continued._


	2. Where Fools Fear to Tread

Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own Hellsing or RAND. I make no money from this, ergo, if you try to sue, I will rip out your throat.

UPS – Unmanned Perimeter Sensor

* * *

The blood. The smell of blood. Hunger was clawing its way up her throat, the desire to drink, to bathe, to immerse herself in the blood, its lust…fingers curled up in a desperate show of control, Sir Integra sat at the edge of her bed, swaying back and forth. An unexpected side effect of the neural link, the unshielded emotions and sensations of her vampires spilled into Integra's mind. 

This was the third dawn she had spent like this, the time when Alucard and the policegirl drifted away from consciousness and towards the unknowing the undead called sleep. Those few minutes were, for Integra, Hell on Earth, for she could smell her own blood beating through her veins.

Certain parts of her mind still felt raw from the surgery, certain thought processes sending a trill of fire down her spine. She had been told that as she healed, the residual echo effects would go away of their own accord, and she would gain a greater familiarity with the neural link's properties. So far the effects had been increasing, not diminishing.

Integra sighed with tiredness and relief as the last of the bloodlust faded from her mind. She stood up, gracefully, her hands reaching for the glasses perched on her night table. _What a way to wake up._

* * *

"So the bloodlust did go away?" 

"Yes. But I am not experiencing anything more than the most basic interface between HellNet and myself. Simple tasks like taking the reading from an UPS takes more than a full minute."

"I believe that due to your sensitization to true telepathic contact, especially from a young age, you have developed certain barriers in your mind that are preventing you from interfacing with the Network."

"And?"

"Just get used to working with the system. You'll be comfortable enough with it to let down your barriers naturally, given some time."

"Is there no faster way? I lost a soldier last night. He could have been saved had the Network been fully operational."

"Sir Hellsing." For the first time, the researcher used her title. "Your safety is paramount. This corporation will _not _partake of any action that endangers you physical or mental health. Pulling down pre-conditioned childhood barriers by forceful therapy will be construed as a harmful action. Please follow our recommendations."

* * *

"Dr. Ravindran?" 

"I'm doing this against my own judgment, Sir Integra. You understand that the drug is a psychotic, and it may have unprecedented side effects?" The middle-aged man's concern came through with his thick Indian accent.

"I'm not a child, Doctor. I _am_ doing this, and I know the risks full well. Administer it. Now."

* * *

"_She is driving herself too far."_

"_My Master knows what is good for her, Angel of Death."_

"_After last night's episode, I'm not so sure, Alucard. Not in this matter."_

"_Anything she does, she does well."_

"_Indeed."_

Integra heard the whispers through the tips of her fingers. Every sound was like a caress of wind on her skin, every breath taken by the people in the room she felt as a rhythmic tingle in the palms of her hands. Integra opened her eyes, and to her, the sound of her own fluttering lashes was like the stroke of a lover's fingertips on her brow. Instantly, with a shuddering rustle of his coat, Alucard was by her side, followed more slowly by the aging butler.

"Is this how it is for Vampires?" she asked.

"No, this is how it is for druggies." There was a tone of recrimination in Alucard's voice. "Are you _interfacing _with your computer any better now?" Sarcasm was not far behind.

Bemusedly, Integra _reached. _Clear pictures formed inside her head as she dipped wantonly into the files stored on her personal computer. Simultaneously, she could feel an urgent need from the direction of the household security system, a need to disgorge its information into her mind. "Yes!" The sound was almost a moan.

"I'll get the Doctor, then, Sir," said a slightly shocked Walter, and exited the room.

"And I'll get to sleep, if Master grants her permission."

"Go…" sighed Integra. _Go! _If her verbal voice was a sigh, her mental voice retained all its usual snappish firmness.

As Alucard disappeared into the far wall of Integra's room, she swore she could _hear _the sound of his body melting to the stone. And, as simply as that, she saw how very easy it would be to dip into her servant's mind.

* * *

_Upon the crosses, row on row_Spirits, solid in their anguish, lie impaled upon sharp cross-shaped spikes. Neat rows of thousands – almost, she could hear the whispering voices, some familiar, some so very alien. She walked upon the blood soaked ground, her hair the only surface off which the dull moonlight glinted. So very surreal. In the distance, far across the field of orderly crosses, there stood a castle. Or was it a cathedral?_ And so we breach, so stealthy still, the castles of their minds._

"Your lack of self control is exemplary, Master." For the very first time in his interactions with Integra, the Vampire's voice was cold.

"Alucard." Integra was calm. "Beautiful landscape. Did Magritte ever tiptoe through here?" The Vampire snarled silently. "Won't you give me a tour?"

"Master. Get. Out. Of. My. Mind."

"Turnabout is certainly fair play, Alucard."

* * *

…_to be continued. Perhaps later tonight._


End file.
